Saturday, October 27, 2012

Ready for Pumpkins by Kate Duke

Miss MacGuffey teaches first grade class and has a class guinea pig.  His name is Hercules, but he goes by Herky.

Alfred A Knopf sent me a copy of this book for review (thank you).  It has been published and would make a nice gift for Halloween.  After all, when do you have a pumpkin in the house?

Herky has it made.  He has lots of food, fresh water, and lots of attention.  What impresses him the most, though, is when the students plant and grow fresh green beans.  Imagine, you plant this little seed and you get these luscious greens!  He decides to take a few seeds with him when he goes to his summer home.  Herky becomes friends with Daisy, a bunny.  Together they work on growing some pumpkin seeds. 

My favorite part of this story is Daisy telling Herky to "Cool it!"  He's so impatient and wants his seeds to grow quickly.  When I was small, I always expected the seeds to sprout the next day.  When it took a week or longer it was so disappointing.  I understand how Herkie feels.

This is a cute tale.  Herkie leaves the farm for school again and the farmer brings in the pumpkins to share with the class.  How they got in his yard is a mystery but we know, don't we?  

Happy reading. 

1 comment:

Shan said...

This story would be great for a preschool/daycare science class where they plant some type of bean water and wait...and 10 minutes later want to know when it is going to grow! Love the cover. and perfect for this time of year instead of giving out those dentist pleasing treats

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